Where the dead warn the living: Darien Gap, deadliest stretch on donkey route

Fears of arrest, deportation, and an uncertain future loom large in the minds of those who take the donkey or dunki route to migrate illegally to the US and Canada. There's a deeper fear that takes root in their hearts. It's the dreaded Darien Gap, where death stalks people every moment. The Darien Gap is a dense jungle straddling the borders of Colombia and Panama, strewn with dead bodies, filth, and unforgiving terrain, that hundreds of thousands, including thousands from India, brave in the days-long-journey on foot every year in pursuit of their American dream.

Hundreds of those who risked it all by crossing the bandit-infested Darien Gap to reach the US are now being sent back by the US to their countries of origin, including India.

On Saturday, the second flight from the US with 119 illegal immigrants from India will land in Amritsar. Another flight is to land on Sunday (February 16). This comes after the deportation of 104 Indian illegal immigrants from the US last week.

A video shared by one deportee, Akash, with India Today TV captured the dangers of the journey to reach the US.

It showed several illegal immigrants navigating the muddy dense forests of the Darien between Colombia and Panama. It also provided a glimpse of the journey, revealing the perils faced by the caminantes (walkers in Spanish) who try to reach the US via the infamous and dangerous Darien Gap.

As the caminantes aimed for the American dream along the perilous South American Dunki route, Akash documented the harrowing ordeal him and others endured.

The treacherous stretch of Darien Gap is a dense rainforest and swampland that, since the 2010s, has become a notorious passage for those seeking a new life in the US and Canada. The journey through the narrow landmass between the north and south Americas is a part of what is known as the "dunki" or "donkey" route, that thousands of caminantes from Venezuela, Haiti, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India take.

The Darien route is so dangerous that Benjamin, from the YouTube channel Bald and Bankrupt, known for extreme travel vlogging, including sneaking a cat out of Cuba to Brussels, said after taking the route, "This is the most dangerous thing I have done, definitely for YouTube and probably in my life".

WHAT AND WHERE IS THE DARIEN GAP?

The Darien Gap is a 97-km expanse of unforgiving terrain on an isthmus.

It had long been considered impassable. However, with growing instability in Latin American nations like Haiti and Venezuela in the past decade, people from these countries began trekking northwards to the US through the Darien.

The Darien Gap is a part of the South American donkey route, which includes multiple border crossings through countries like Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, with migrants travelling on foot, boats, goods trains and other improvised means through dense jungles, rivers, and dangerous terrain.

The Gap has everything that makes the trek difficult for families; migrating with elderly, children, and carrying heavy bags of belongings and tents to camp on the way. From steep mountains to fast-moving rivers and dense jungles, the challenges are many.

Over 5 lakh migrants crossed the Darien Gap in 2023, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

However, it's not just the natural barriers that make the Gap dangerous for the caminantes.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND LAWLESSNESS IN THE DARIEN JUNGLE

The risks of walking the route go beyond the unforgiving terrain. The jungle is home to venomous snakes, jaguars, and deadly insects. The climate is harsh, with frequent rainfall and high humidity.

The region is also a hotbed of cartels, armed groups and smugglers. They control and facilitate much of the route, extorting money from migrants, robbing them, and subjecting them to violence.

With the number of migrants taking the Darien route increasing to lakhs, it also increases the risks of tropical disease. Drowning, falling off the cliffs, and cartel violence, coupled with diseases the migrants face, the Darien Gap has seen the death of many caminantes.

Panama's newly elected President, Jose Raul Mulino, in December 2024, revealed that "55 migrants died trying to cross the Darien jungle". He added that a total of 180 children were abandoned while crossing the Gap, reported news agency AFP. Mulino, in July 2024, had promised to stop migration through the Darien Gap.

"We faced a lot of difficulties, we were robbed, and saw dead people along the way," Venezuelan mother Johainy, who walked through the Darien in 2022, along with her one-year-old baby, told the UN News.

"Though we prepared ourselves as much as we could by watching many videos about the route, nothing could totally prepare us for what we experienced in the forest," she added.

Between January and April 2024, more than 30,000 children crossed the Darien Gap, which was a 40% increase compared to the same months in 2023, according to UNICEF. Calling it a crisis, UNICEF also noted that around 8 lakh people, including 1.6 lakh children and adolescents, could have crossed the jungle in 2024.

The absence of law enforcement agencies in the region further makes it dangerous and increases the multifold risks. In recent years, an average of 20 to 30 bodies have been recovered from the Darien jungle each year, according to American news outlet BorderReport.

Then there is the threat of sexual violence and assaults in the lawless jungles that many women who walk alone have to face. In December 2023, Doctors Without Borders teams in southern Panama treated 214 survivors of sexual violence, a more than sevenfold increase from the usual 30 to 35 cases per month.

Despite the dangers, many migrants continue to attempt the journey.

With President Donald Trump assuming office and acting on illegal immigrants, governments in the region, including that of Panama and humanitarian bodies, have begun to take steps to address the crisis. Panama has increased its efforts to combat transnational crime in the region, dedicating over 1,200 agents to secure the border.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, during his meeting with Panamian president Mullion, thanked him for his efforts in tackling the illegal migration crisis.

However, much more needs to be done to deter migrants from taking this dangerous route or at least to protect them if they do. And, it should not just be Panama's problem, as the South American donkey route involves illegal immigrant movements through multiple countries in the Americas. For now, the Darien Gap continues to be the most dangerous stretch of the donkey route, where the dead warn the living.